Dear Readers:
Have you ever noticed how we humans love, almost live, to categorize things? Many articles I hear on the news or read in daily newspapers, on-line, periodicals, even billboards, seem to tuck things into groups. There’s the new thinking on Nature vs. Nurture: we are either orchids (who wilt under challenging conditions but thrive in supportive environments) or dandelions (who aren’t much affected by their surroundings, whether positive or negative.) Researchers now think dogs wag their tails on the right to show they are happy and secure or on the left indicating they perceive a threat. And the left brain/right brain theory is out the window, now replaced by the top/bottom brain structure. That new research debunks the left/right as an old wives’ tale amounting to not much more than a very successful urban legend. So now we are either Movers, Perceivers, Stimulators, or Adaptors. The odd thing about these new categories is that, much like reading one’s horoscope, all the suggested behaviors seem to fit me in a vague, somewhat, sort of way.

I was impressed to read that novelists fit in the Perceiver mode. We supposedly do not plan well, contrive to live lives out of the spotlight, trying to make sense of events occurring around us so we can flesh out the “big picture.” We are team players who bring the needed wisdom and depth perception to group processes. We sit side-by-side with pastors and naturalists.

I must say some of these characteristics make me wonder how do plots ever get written and research completed and book-signings accomplished? One of my best friends who is also a writer always impresses me with the characters that roam inside her head and come together to congeal into a logical story. I know a number of beginning authors who have worked on their stories as long or longer than myself. I guess maybe one of the characteristics of Perceiver Mode must be stubbornness and stick-to-it-tivity. I continue to wait for a response from a possible agent. I continue to think about my next writing project. I continue to read stories created by other Perceivers. Maybe I do fit into that category well. If I had to categorize myself where would I begin? Woman. Wife. Mother. Sister. Daughter. Laboratory Professional. Christian. Writer. Too many to count. The list goes on and on and the plot thickens.